PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Fanfic
Eugenics
Chapter One: One Who Time Remembered

Japan, Nerima, September 21, 1996

     Ranma awoke abruptly as a scream cut through the air.  He sat up
and quickly looked around, blinking due to the darkness.  After blearily
searching for a few moments, he found the source of the cry.  A young
girl nearby had apparently had a nightmare, or was just reacting to the
one they were all currently living. He couldn't be sure which, but
fortunately a nearby boy, in his late teens and looking as if he was in
serious need of sleep,  hugged the distressed child and soothed her as
best he could.  
     Turning his head, Ranma stared down at Akane.  She was still
sleeping, more peacefully than he would have imagined.  He laid a hand
on her forehead and he smiled for the first time in what seemed like
forever.  The fever felt as though it was coming under control... though
in their current conditions it could only be considered a miracle.
Almost curled up next to Akane was Kasumi, looking for all her maturity
and experience like a little girl who simply wanted her mother more than
anything.  
     Sitting in a lotus position before them all was Soun, still awake.
His eyes were bloodshot and stared at the door of the shelter; but he
did not focus on it entirely.  Instead he seemed to be reflecting, as
well as keeping watch over his family.  
     Ranma looked to the door Soun was facing and noticed with some
amusement that it still stood, strong as ever.  Whoever had constructed
the bomb shelter had not done that shabby a job considering the time and
how powerful the explosives it was designed to protect against.  He
stood up and started for the door.  A small shake rolled through the
ground beneath his feet.  Aftershocks, he assumed, and continued his
trip.
     Everywhere people were sleeping.  It was strange, only certain
signs gave away that one person was dreaming, and another would never
wake up.  Soon, when enough people arose, the dead would have to be
taken out of the shelter and buried... or burned.  Under the
circumstances a pyre might be best, as the time for mourning would have
to be short.  Survival came first, and Ranma had a feeling the world
that greeted him outside would not be one to easily live in.  
     The door opened with a groan, and Ranma could already tell
something was wrong.  His internal clock was fairly accurate, especially
after so many years on the road without so much as a sundial.  His
instincts told him it was around eight to nine in the morning.  Outside
it was pitch black.  
     He came to the top of the stairs, and shivered slightly in the cool
morning breeze.  Around him fell flakes of what appeared to be ash.
When he looked up he could see occasional trails of fire where rock
reentered the atmosphere.  Light was not at all a problem though, as
fires raged across the city.  Downtown Tokyo could be seen distinctly,
as it was the biggest blaze on the horizon.
     Ranma found a man to be standing next to the staircase.  He
recognized him as Thurston, a gaijin who had lived at the end of the
block.  A successful business man, Thurston had supposedly attacked
Japanese economics with surprising tenacity.  Everyone expected him to
go far, he had even married the daughter of the CEO of a huge
electronics industry.  At least, that's all what Nabiki had told him.
     Nabiki...
     Ranma blinked back the tears and suppressed that train of thought.
He walked up next to the man, who was looking down the street at his
still burning house.  
     Thurston looked over at him.  "Good morning," he said, then went
back to staring at the end of the road.  
     "Good morning," Ranma returned, gazing over at a sizeable crater
where the Tendou Dojo had once stood.  Nothing remained, but a few
pieces of charred wood and a handful of memories.  Not near as many as
Ranma would have liked.  
     "A rock," Thurston said after a few moments of silence.
     "What?" Ranma asked, looking at the young American curiously.
     "A rock froms space... it's what caused all this."  He sweeped a
hand at the wasteland before them.  
     Ranma looked at the devastation again.  "How do you know?"
     "When you think about it, it's the only possible answer.  However,
I also heard on the EMS... they have a working radio in the shelter, of
course."  He sighed, wiping his eye to remove a stray piece of ash.
"The officials say an asteroid hit somwhere in China... destroying it
almost completely.  Russia was mostly wiped out, as well as a good chunk
of Europe and India.  The experts, for what they're worth, are baffled
at the amount of damage done.  They said the shockwave from the impact
acted very strange... as if the energy was redirected somehow..."  
     "Thurston," Ranma interrupted suddenly.
     "Yeah?"
     "Your wife... is she...?"
     The man looked toward Tokyo proper.  "She was with her father
downtown... they say it's almost completely gone."
     Ranma stared at the reddish haze and smoke that represented the
greatest metropolis in the world.  "She might be okay.  I mean, look at
us... we certainly beat the odds."  
     "Some of us beat the odds." Thurston corrected.  "Think of those
who didn't... think of thse out there," he waved a hand again, "who
didn't."
     At first, Ranma had to agree with him.  Then, in a flash he
remembered.  "Ucchan!  Shampoo!" he whispered fiercely and ran off
toward his friend's establishment.  
     Thurston watched as the young man ran off, to hopefully find his
friends.  "Good luck to you," he said quietly and lifted his cigarette
to his mouth.  He paused and looked down at a long ash attached to a
filter.  With a strong flick it flew away, and the ash joined its
brethren.
     
Nibelheim, December 20, 4125

     Dr. Gast finished a few notes at the edge of his pad and placed it
on the oaken desk before him.  "What is it, Hojo?" he asked impatiently.
"You know I have to tend to an experiment soon."
     "Yes, sir... I realize that.  However...."  The young scientist
paused, then smiled.  "I think you should come see this first."
     The doctor sighed, rubbing his temples.  After replacing his
reading glasses with his regular prescription he nodded.  "Very well...
what is it you want to show me?"
     As they walked down the hallway, Hojo explained, "You know how you
discovered that when you combine certain elements of our... discovery,
with Mako it releases a radiation.  A radiation that we have yet to
classify properly."
     Dr. Gast nodded.  "Yes, yes... of course, that is what my
experimentation is on!"
     "Well... you also discovered that this radiation can have an...
intesting effect on human cells.  Even so far as to converting them into
something that more resembles our discovery."  Hojo stopped in front of
a blank rock wall outside the main study.  He pressed his hand against a
seemingly empty area, and a door slid open out of nowhere.  
     Dr. Gast took a startled step backward.  "What is this, Hojo?  How
long has this been here?"  
     "Just long enough to begin my experiment." Hojo explained, then
walked into the room.  
     The doctor followed him in, and instantly his eyes widened.  Around
the small room lay various tools necessary to handle Mako, the very life
essence of the Planet.  As well, sample containers containing Jenova
cells lay scattered about.  "What are you going, Hojo?  These materials
are off limits!  If I turn you in you could get kicked out of the
Chemistry Division!"  
     "Actually, I have the backing of Shinra entirely... they say they
want to know of my results as soon as possible." Hojo said, still
smiling, though it had turned much more sinister.
     "What results?  What are you doing here?" Dr. Gast demanded,
starting to get upset, and slightly worried as well.
     "Simple... I'm creating life."  Hojo pressed a few buttons on a
large sample storage container in the center of the room, and a plastic
tube rose from it.  Inside was a liquid that glowed with a dull green
light, and a fetus, apparently in the third trimester.  
     Dr. Gast stood shock still, staring at the fetus in rapt horror.
After a few seconds he took a shaky step backward, bumping into a table
and knocking a pair of surgical instruments to the floor.  The sharp
clang of metal hitting rock brought him out of his trance.  "Hojo...
what... what have you done?"
     Hojo sighed, obviously the good doctor was staying that way...
good.  Unfortunately, in his business the only good doctor was... dead.
He brought up a Lightning Materia.  "Nothing I can't handle," he stated
plainly as he activated the Materia to Level 3.
     All that was left was ash, which floated away in the artifically
circulated air.  

END Draft Chapter One
This is pretty rough and not complete.  I want to do a big revise of the
Prologue, and add more to this eventually (very soon, I hope).  If you
are enjoying this, would like to see more, have no clue as to what's
going on, or simply want to complain about something I've screwed up,
please send me comments/criticism.
Thanks for reading,
PMasters (10-20-98)                       

"I'm only holding back the rain.  So many raindrops, so many pains.  I
want to find my train someday.  As seasons go past the station." - Tokyo
Babylon OVA 1
/ E-mail at:  PhilMasters@webtv.net /
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"...has anyone ever used something alive for a coat of arms?" - The
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"You see, what you call a cat, we use as armor." - Rune (El-Hazard,
1994)